Press Releases

WASHINGTON, April 10 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the senior Republican on the Senate health committee, released the following statement on reports that U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius will resign and that the president will likely nominate Office of Management and Budget Director Sylvia Burwell to...

*** “Enabling states and parents will get better results than creating a national school board for early childhood education.” –Lamar Alexander Washington, D.C., April 10 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the senior Republican on the Senate education committee, today said he was developing legislation that would...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — With prescription drug overdose death rates in the United States more than tripling since 1990 and prescription opioid abuse an ever-growing problem, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Ranking Member Lamar Alexander (R-TN) today announced the establishment of the...

“I want to thank our witnesses for being with us today to examine the Strong Start for America’s Children Act, a bill that will greatly expand access to high-quality early learning experiences for children from birth to kindergarten entry. “I introduced this bill last November along with Congressmen George Miller and Richard...

Washington, D.C., April 9 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the senior Republican on the Senate labor committee, today released the following statement on his vote against Senate Democrats’ so-called “Paycheck Fairness” legislation that would increase litigation and limit the ability of employers to give working...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, delivered a speech on the Senate floor today to mark Equal Pay Day. Harkin has been a strong champion for gender equality in the workforce, co-sponsoring the Paycheck Fairness Act and introducing a proposal to raise...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement today on the 150th anniversary of Gallaudet University. “Since its charter was signed by President Abraham Lincoln 150 years ago, Gallaudet University has been a world leader in...

WASHINGTON, April 7 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today released the following statement on his vote against Democratic legislation that would extend unemployment benefits without considering Republican proposals to help unemployed Americans: “This bill does not contain a single proposal to help grow the economy or encourage...

Washington, D.C., April 7 – A group of 18 Republican senators today submitted comments opposing the National Labor Relations Board’s proposed rule to speed up workplace union elections, which “poses significant harm to businesses and workers alike in the United States.” The senators write that the rule is essentially a...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement after the Senate passed the bipartisan Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) Extension Act of 2014, which will restore unemployment insurance for millions of...

WASHINGTON, D.C.— U.S. Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) wrote to the heads of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today, urging the agencies to take enforcement action against e-cigarette...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement on the March employment numbers.  “The jobs report today shows yet another month of job growth, with 192,000 jobs added to the economy in March. While these figures are...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement today in response to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showing that poison control centers reported a major spike in calls involving e-cigarette...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA)—Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee—and U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced legislation that would improve coordination between federal agencies that oversee the for-profit college industry.  Through the establishment of...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, issued the following statement after Portia Wu was approved unanimously by the Senate to serve as the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training. Wu was approved by the Senate HELP Committee...

WASHINGTON D.C., April 2 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the senior Republican on the Senate health committee, today commended passage by the House of Representatives of legislation to continue the successful children’s hospitals graduate medical education program that supports the training of pediatricians at children’s...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives approved the Children’s Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act(CHGME), sending the bill to President Obama’s desk for...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, issued the following statement after Christopher Lu was approved unanimously by the Senate to serve as the Deputy Secretary of Labor. Lu was approved by the Senate HELP Committee in February 2014. “Helping...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today released the following statement on the news that more than seven million Americans had enrolled in quality, affordable health coverage through the federal and state Marketplaces created under the Affordable Care...

*** “Instead of a law like the one proposed here, which would literally reduce the flexibility that employers can provide their employees to do things like go to their child’s football game or the school play. I think we need more flexibility.” –Lamar Alexander Washington, D.C., April 1 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander...